Bathing-suit.



v H. 0. NETZ.

BATHING SUIT. APPLIUATION FILED 23.22.1909.

Patented Oct. 5

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BATHING SUIT.

' APPLICATION FILED 211.22, 1909.

Patented Oct. 5, 1909.

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ATTORNEYS UNTED STATES PATENT OFFCE..

HELENA. O. NETZ, OF LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK.

BATHINGr-SUIT.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that l, HELENA O. NETZ, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Long Island City, county of Queens, and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bathing- Suits, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates more particularly to a bathing suit which may bemade adj ustable.

rlhe primary object of the invention is to provide a bathing suit whichmay be lengthened so that the wearer while out of the water will beentirely covered and protected, but which will still permit the feet tobe entirely free, and which may be quickly shortened to the length ofthe usual bathing suit to permit freedom of movement while in the water,thus adapting the suit for use as a walking coat or dress while out ofthe water, and overcoming the objections of many bathers to wearing ashort skirt while on the shore, or while going to or from the bathinghouse.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bathing suit having anindependent outer and inner garment which may be readily attached to ordetached from each other, and which garments or members may be properlysupported on the wearer, and which will provide a neat and attractiveappearance..

lVith these and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinaftermore particularly described with reference to 4the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part of this specification, and will then bepointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

l'n the drawings, Figure l illustrates one form of suit embodying myinvention, and represents the same in full lines as it appears forbathing purposes, and in dotted lines lengthened for use while thebather is out of the water. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the outer garmentor coat member partly opened, and showingthe same lengthened forwalking` purposes. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the inner garment orbloomers with the shield and supporting means therefor. Fig, -t is afragmentary perspective view of the rear of the garment shown in Fig. 3.Figs. 5 and G are elevations of the coat member showing diiferentmeans'car- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application liled April 22, 1909.

Patented Oct. 5, 1909.

Serial No. 491,464.

ried thereby for holding the same when shortened; and Figs. 7 and 8 showdifferent forms of belts which may be used in connection with thefastening means shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

The bloomers or inner garment 10 may be of the usual form, and arebifurcated as usual to give freedom of movement, and to the band 11 ofthe bloomers is fastened, by stitching or otherwise, theshoulder-supporting means 12, which is closed at the front and open inthe rear thereof so as to vform two shoulder-pieces 13 and 14, which areadapt-ed t0 extend downward and fasten to the band 11 at the rearthereof, and each member 13 and 14 is provided with a part or socketmember 15 having the usual socket or opening in which is adapted to litthe button part of the member' 16 of the usual form of fastening device,though any suitable fastener may be employed for this purpose. A shield17 form a part of the supporting means and said shield is provided witha neck and may be of a different color from the other part of thegarment, and may besecured to the members 13 and 14 or integraltherewith, and instead of the supporting means 12, as shown, anypreferred form of suspending means may be employed, if desired, forholding the bloomers.

To entirely cover the bloomers 10, and to cover the body of the wearerto her ankles and still permit the garment to be secured in such a wayas to be of substantially the same length as the bloomers whichordinarily reach to or about the knees, l provide an outer garment orcoat member 19. This coat member has a blouse portion 20, and a skirtportion 21, which is formed as a part of the coat member and which islarge enough to permit freedom of movement of the body. This coat membermay be open in front throughout its entire length, so as to be readilyslipped on, and may be fastened 1 together by buttons 22 or in any otherdesired way, and said coat member may be provided with short sleeves 23,and with a suitable collar 24. The coat member is provided with one partof a fastening device, l

as at 25, on each side thereof and on its inner surface, and theopposite member of said fastening device is arranged on the shield 17 ofthe bloomer-supporting means, as at 26, so that when the coat member isslipped over the body it may be readily fastened to said supportingmeans. A belt 27 is fastened below the normal waist line 0f the coatmember, and said belt is held thereto in any desired way. A plurality ofloops t28 are provided so that the belt, which in this case is in theform of a cord, may slip through said loops. By lifting the coat memberor skirt portion so that the belt will reach the normal waist line, andthen fastening the belt asshown in Fig. l, the skirt will be held sothat the lower edge thereof will be of substantially the same length asthe bloomers and reach to or about the knees of the wearer to betteradapt the same for freedom of movement of the body while in the water,but when the belt is released the skirt portion will fall to theposition shown in dotted lines 29 in Fig. 1, so as to reach about to theankles of the wearer. By this means the suit is better adapted for wearboth in and out of the water than if the skirt was made short as is thecase with the ordinary bathing snit.

The coat member may be of any desired form and size, and various meansmay be employed for holding the skirt portion in a raised position. Asshown in Fig. 5, the lower edge of the skirt portion is provided with aband 30, and on this band are the members 3l of the usual form offastening` device in which a button is adapted to t into a socket andpermanently secured to t-he coat member at the proper point, orindependent thereof, may be arranged a belt 32 as shown in Fig. 7. Thisbelt is provided with fastening means at its ends to lit around thewaist of the wearer, and is provided with socket members 33 which areadapted to be fastened to the members 3l' of the band 30. In this casethe socket portion of the coat member is lifted and turned outvardly sothat the said members may be forced in the socket members 30, and inthis way be held in a raised position.

Tn Fig. (3 the band 34 may be substantially the same as the band 30, butis located above the lower edge of the skirt, and' said band may be heldto a belt or in any other desired way as already described.

Instead of the form of belt shown in Fig. 7, the skirt may be held by adevice as shown in Fig. 8. Here the beltor band 35 is provided withsuitable fastening means and suspended from the band portion 35 are aplurality of straps 3G on which fastening means 37 are provided whichare adapted to be fastened to the devices of the bands secured to theskirt of the coat member as shown in Figs. 5 and G, or the skirt may beotherwise held by said straps as found most suitable; and instead ofbelts as shown the means for lifting the skirt can be made of lace orother open work so as to make the appearance of the suit moreattractive.

It will be understood that the coat member may have its blouse formed soas to eX- pose to view the shield 17 in which case the latter might beof such material and contrast of color as would add to the appearance ofthe suit, and other changes may be made in the parts of t-he suitwithout departing from the character of the invention.

From the foregoing it will be seen that simple and efficient means isprovided whereby a bathing suit may have its skirt lengthened orshortened to adapt the same for use in the water, or while walking to orfrom the water; that said bathing suit thus made may be used fordifferent sizes of people; and that said suit may be made attractive inappearance.

Having thus described my invention, claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent l. A bathing suit comprising a bloomer member, a supportfastened to the bloomer member and having means adapted to pass over theshoulders and to be fastened to the bloomer member at the rear thereof,a detachable coat member having a blouse portion and a skirt portion andhaving means to detachably connect the same to the supporting part ofthe bloomer member, the said coat member being open in front and havingmeans for closing the same, and a belt carried by the coat member belowthe waist line thereof to permit the coat to be lengthened so as toextend below the bloomer member and to permit the coat member to beshortened and held in this position for the purpose set forth.

2. A bathing suit comprising a bloomer member, a support provided with ashield fastened to the bloomer member and having divided means adaptedto pass over the shoulders and to be fastened to the bloomer member atthe rear thereof, a detachable coat member having a blouse and a skirtportion and having means to detachably connect the same to thesupporting part of the bloomer member, the said coat member being openin front and havii'ig means for closing the same, a belt carried by thecoat member below the waist line thereof to permit the coat t'o belengthened so as to extend below the bloomer member and to permit thecoat member to be shortened and held in this position, and means forholding the belt to the skirt portion.

This specification signed and witnessed this 20 day of April A. D. 1909.

HELENA O. NETZ.

Vitnesses M. F. KEATING, M. DINNHAUPT.

